Disabling of wireless transmission of wireless communication devices using messages

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and apparatuses are directed to facilitating disabling of wireless transmission of wireless communication devices using messages. In one embodiment, logic is configured to generate a disabling message that indicates disabling of wireless transmission, and wirelessly transmit the disabling message to cause disabling of a transmitter portion of a wireless transceiver of a wireless communication device that receives the disabling message. In another embodiment, logic is configured to generate a disabling message that indicates disabling of wireless transmission, and wirelessly transmit the disabling message to cause disabling of a transmitter portion of a wireless transceiver of a wireless communication device that receives the disabling message. In some embodiments, the disabling message may cause the transmitter portion of the wireless transceiver to be disabled while a receiver portion of the wireless transmitter remains enabled.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to disabling of one or morefunctionalities of a communication device using messages, and inparticular, to disabling of one or more functionalities of a wirelesscommunication device using messages.

BACKGROUND ART

Typically, users manually disable and enable transmitting/receiving ofradio frequency (RF) signals of their wireless communication devices.For example, when a user is in an environment in which wirelessinterference from his/her communication device may risk the safety ofthe user or others, the user is generally advised to turn thecommunication device off or to change the mode of the communicationdevice to “Airplane Mode” (e.g., wireless transmission and reception ofthe communication device is disabled). However, the user may nonethelessstill forget to follow such procedures, resulting in the increased riskof danger to the user as well as others. These and other drawbacks existwith typical approaches of disabling and enabling wireless signals ofwireless communication devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level functional block diagram of a system forfacilitating disabling of wireless transmission of wirelesscommunication devices using messages, in accordance with various aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts a scenario illustrating disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices using messages, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts wireless communication modes of a wireless communicationdevice, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a scenario illustrating unidirectional transmission ofdisabling messages, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a high-level functional block diagram of a wirelesscommunication device, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts a high-level flow diagram of a process for facilitatingdisabling of wireless transmission of wireless communication devicesusing messages, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the description that follows, like components have been given thesame reference numerals, regardless of whether they are shown indifferent embodiments. To illustrate an embodiment(s) of the presentdisclosure in a clear and concise manner, the drawings may notnecessarily be to scale and certain features may be shown in somewhatschematic form. Features that are described and/or illustrated withrespect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similarway in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with orinstead of the features of the other embodiments.

In accordance with various embodiments of this disclosure, devices,systems, and/or methods for facilitating disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices using messages areproposed. In one embodiment, an electronic device for facilitatingdisabling of wireless transmission of wireless communication devicesusing messages may include a memory unit, and logic configured to:generate a disabling message that indicates disabling of wirelesstransmission, and wirelessly transmit the disabling message to causedisabling of a transmitter portion of a wireless transceiver of awireless communication device that receives the disabling message.

In another embodiment, a system for facilitating disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices using messages mayinclude a wireless communication device and an electronic device thatincludes a memory unit and logic configured to: generate a disablingmessage that indicates disabling of wireless transmission, andwirelessly transmit the disabling message to cause disabling of atransmitter portion of a wireless transceiver of a wirelesscommunication device that receives the disabling message.

In another embodiment, a method for facilitating disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices using messages mayinclude generating a disabling message that indicates disabling ofwireless transmission, and wirelessly transmitting the disabling messageto cause disabling of a transmitter portion of a wireless transceiver ofa wireless communication device that receives the disabling message.

In another embodiment, a wireless communication device for facilitatingdisabling of wireless transmission of wireless communication devicesusing messages may include a memory unit, a wireless transceiverconfigured to transmit and receive wireless signals, and logicconfigured to: wirelessly receive a disabling message that indicatesdisabling of wireless transmission; and disable a transmitter portion ofthe wireless transceiver based on the disabling message.

In another embodiment, a system for facilitating disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices using messages mayinclude an electronic device and a wireless communication device thatincludes a memory unit, a wireless transceiver, and logic configured to:wirelessly receive a disabling message that indicates disabling ofwireless transmission; and disable a transmitter portion of the wirelesstransceiver based on the disabling message.

In another embodiment, a method for facilitating disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices using messages mayinclude wirelessly receiving a disabling message that indicatesdisabling of wireless transmission, and disabling a transmitter portionof the wireless transceiver based on the disabling message.

These and other features and characteristics, as well as the methods ofoperation and functions of the related elements of structure and thecombination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become moreapparent upon consideration of the following description and theappended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all ofwhich form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to beexpressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose ofillustration and description only and are not intended as a definitionof the limits of claims. As used in the specification and in the claims,the singular form of “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referentsunless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level functional block diagram of a system 100 forfacilitating disabling of wireless transmission of wirelesscommunication devices using messages, in accordance with various aspectsof the present disclosure. As illustrated, system 100 includes wirelesscommunication device 102 and electronic device 104 that is configured totransmit disabling messages that indicates disabling of wirelesstransmission. It should be noted that wireless communication device 102and/or electronic device 104 may represent any of a number of electronicand/or computing devices, both wireless and wired. As such, in someembodiments, wireless communication device 102 and/or electronic device104 may comprise desktops, laptops, mobile devices, smart phones, gamingdevices, tablet computers, and/or other devices.

Wireless communication device 102, electronic device 104, and/or otherdevices may communicate over communication network 106, for instance, tointeract with a third party provider server 108 or to perform otherfunctions. It should be noted that the communication mechanisms andnetworks as described herein are not intended to be limiting in any way,as the communications could be based on one or more standards andprotocols including, but not limited to, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,NFC, radio frequency, GSM, CDMA, GPRS, 3G or 4G (e.g., WiMAX, LTE, etc.)cellular standards, Wireless USB, satellite communication, infrared,sonar, etc., and communication network 106 may comprise the Internet orany other suitable network, such as peer-to-peer, intranets, extranets,etc.

In one embodiment, with respect to FIG. 1, electronic device 104 maygenerate a disabling message that indicates disabling of wirelesstransmission and then wirelessly transmit the disabling message to causedisabling of a transmitter portion of a wireless transceiver of awireless communication device that receives the disabling message. Byway of illustration, wireless communication device 102 may wirelesslyreceive the disabling message directly from electronic device 104. Inresponse to receiving the disabling message, wireless communicationdevice 102 may process the disabling message and, based on theprocessing, determine that the disabling message specifies disabling ofwireless transmission. As such, wireless communication device 102 maydisable a transmitter portion of its wireless transceiver. In someembodiments, based on receipt of the disabling message, wirelesscommunication device 102 may disable the transmitter portion and areceiver portion of its wireless transceiver. In this way, wirelesstransmission and/or reception of wireless communication device 102 maybe disabled without a user of wireless communication device 102 havingto manually initiate the disabling of the wireless transmission and/orreception or while reducing the amount of manual input by the user todisable the wireless transmission and/or reception.

In some embodiments, the disabling message that is transmittedwirelessly by electronic device 104 may cause disabling of a transmitterportion of a wireless transceiver of a wireless communication devicethat receives the disabling message while a receiver portion of thewireless transceiver remains enabled. In one embodiment, wirelesscommunication device 102 may be configured such that, based on wirelesscommunication device 102 receiving the disabling message and determiningthat the disabling message indicates disabling of wireless transmission,wireless communication device 102 may disable the transmitter portion ofits wireless transceiver while leaving a receiver portion of itswireless transceiver enabled. In another embodiment, the disablingmessage may indicate the disabling of wireless transmission withoutdisabling of wireless reception. As such, upon processing of thedisabling message, wireless communication device 102 may determine thatthe disabling message is requesting that the transmitter portion of itswireless receiver be disabled and that the receiver portion of itswireless transceiver remain enabled. Thus, as requested, wirelesscommunication device 102 may disable the transmitter portion of itswireless transceiver while leaving a receiver portion of its wirelesstransceiver enabled.

Along these lines, FIG. 2 depicts scenario 200 illustrating disabling ofwireless transmission of wireless communication devices using messages,in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Scenario200 may, for instance, take place inside of an airplane prior to takeoff. As such, in addition to reminding customers to turn off theirwireless communication devices 102, the flight crew may input a request,via electronic device 104, to disable wireless transmission and/orreception of wireless communication devices 102 in the customer seatingarea 202 to reduce the amount of interference with wirelesscommunication of the airplane that may be caused by wirelesstransmission and/or reception of wireless communication devices 102 inseating area 202 (e.g., when customers nonetheless still forget to turnoff their wireless communication devices 102, when customers arereluctant to turn off their wireless communication devices 102, etc.).

Based on the inputted request, electronic device 104 may generatemessage 204 configured to indicate disabling of wireless transmissionand/or reception in accordance with one or more predetermined rules. Inone use case, the predetermined rules may include standards created toindicate the disabling of wireless transmission and/or reception in amessage such that communication devices compatible with the standardsthat receive the message may initiate one or more actions to disabletransmitter and/or receiver portions of their respective wirelesstransceivers. As indicated, message 204 may be configured to indicatethe disabling of wireless transmission without disabling of wirelessreception. Upon generation of message 204, electronic device 104 maywirelessly transmit message 204 to cause wireless communication devices102 in seating area 202 to: (1) disable transmitter and receiverportions of their wireless transceivers; or (2) disable transmitterportions of their wireless transceivers while leaving the receiverportions of their wireless transceivers enabled. Such actions bywireless communication device 102 may, for instance, be based on message204 indicating: (1) disabling of both wireless transmission andreception; or (2) disabling of wireless transmission without disablingof wireless reception.

Turning to FIG. 3, the illustrated embodiment depicts wirelesscommunication modes 300, 302, and 304 of a wireless communicationdevice, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Inone use case, prior to receiving message 204, wireless communicationdevice 102 may be in wireless communication mode 300 (e.g., “NormalMode”) which allows wireless communication device 102 to wirelesslytransmit and receive messages. As an example, upon receiving message204, wireless communication device 102 may transition from wirelesscommunication mode 300 to wireless communication mode 302 (e.g.,“Airplane Mode”) which prevents wireless communication device 102 fromwirelessly transmitting or receiving messages. As another example, uponreceiving message 204, wireless communication device 102 may transitionfrom wireless communication mode 300 to wireless communication mode 304(e.g., “Hybrid Mode”) which prevents wireless communication device 102from wirelessly transmitting messages, but allows wireless communicationdevice 102 to wirelessly receive messages. Wireless communication mode304 may, for instance, be beneficial to enable wireless communicationdevice 102 to receive critical information, such as emergency messages,weather/disaster advisories, amber alerts, etc. In addition, wirelesscommunication mode 304 may be implemented to allow wirelesscommunication device 102 to be wirelessly enabled via wireless receiptof an enabling message that indicates enabling of wireless transmission.

Thus, in some embodiments, as noted in FIG. 1, electronic device 104 maygenerate the enabling message that indicate the enabling of wirelesstransmission and then wirelessly transmit the enabling message to causeenabling of the wireless transceiver of one or more communicationdevices that receive the enabling message. Wireless communication device102 may, for instance, wirelessly receive the enabling message directlyfrom electronic device 104. In response to receiving the enablingmessage, wireless communication device 102 may process the enablingmessage and, based on the processing, determine that the enablingmessage specifies enabling of wireless transmission. As such, wirelesscommunication device 102 may enable the transmitter portion of itswireless transceiver. In some embodiments, both transmitter and receiverportions of the wireless transceiver of communication device may bedisabled. Nonetheless, upon receipt of the enabling message (e.g., viawireline), wireless communication device 102 may enable the transmitterand receiver portions of its wireless transceiver.

Moreover, with respect to the airplane scenario of FIG. 2, disabling ofwireless transmission and/or reception of wireless communication devicesusing messages may facilitate increased safety of flights and/or otherbenefits, for instance, by reducing the amount of interference caused bywireless transmission from wireless communication devices. It should benoted that disabling of wireless transmission and/or reception ofwireless communication devices may increase safety, decrease noisyinterruptions, and/or provide other benefits in other scenarios, such asin hospitals where wireless signal interference may negatively affectmedical devices, in classrooms where phone calls or other communicationsmay negatively impact a learning environment, etc.

Again, returning to FIG. 1, the disabling message may be configured tocause disabling of wireless transmission for a predetermined timeperiod. In one embodiment, the disabling message may be wirelesslytransmitted on a periodic basis that corresponds to the predeterminedtime period to cause the transmitter portion of the wireless transceiverof wireless communication device 102 to be disabled for longer than thepredetermined period. Thus, in another embodiment, the transmitterportion of the wireless transceiver of wireless communication device 102may be disabled for longer than the predetermined time period based onwireless communication device 102 receiving the disabling message on theperiodic basis. By way of example, wireless communication device 102 maydisable the transmitter portion of its wireless transceiver for twominutes each time that the disabling message is received. The two-minutetime period may, for instance, be in accordance with one or morepredetermines rules (e.g., standards) that specify the amount of time adevice function is to be disabled for each disabling message received.As such, electronic device 104 may be configured to transmit thedisabling message about every two minutes or less to prevent (or atleast minimize) wireless transmission from wireless communicationdevices 102.

In one use case, electronic device 104 may be utilized to wirelesslybroadcast the disabling message in a testing room to mitigate cheatingduring tests, for instance, by preventing users from wirelesslytransmitting and/or receiving messages via their wireless communicationdevices 102. For example, wireless communication devices 102 of userswho are still in the testing room may continue to receive the disablingmessage periodically (e.g., about every two minutes or less), causingthe transmitter and/or receiver portions of the wireless transceivers ofthose wireless communication devices 102 to remain disabled. However,upon those users leaving the testing room, the transmitter and/orreceiver portions of the wireless transceivers of their wirelesscommunication devices 102 may become and remain enabled after thepredetermined time period has passed and their wireless communicationdevices 102 are no longer receiving the disabling message.

In some embodiments, the transmitter portion of the wireless transceiverof wireless communication device 102 may be disabled based on wirelesscommunication device 102 being within a threshold proximity toelectronic device 104 (e.g., which wirelessly transmitted the disablingmessage). As an example, a given electronic device 104 may be configuredto wireless broadcast disabling messages up to ten meters away suchthat, when a given wireless communication device 102 comes within tenmeters away, the given wireless communication device 102 may disable thetransmitter and/or receiver portions of its wireless transceiver. Asanother example, a given wireless communication device 102 may include anear-field communication (NFC) reader. To disable wireless transmissionand/or reception of the wireless communication device 102, a user mayplace the wireless communication device 102 within the thresholdproximity of a NFC tag (e.g., within four centimeters) that isconfigured to wirelessly transmit the disabling message indicatingdisabling of wireless transmission upon activation by the NFC reader ofthe wireless communication device 102. In one use case, the NFC tag maybe placed at an entrance point of a particular section of a hospital andsuccessful scanning of the NFC tag by wireless communication devices 102may be required to pass the entrance point, for instance, to reduce theamount of wireless interference from wireless communication devices 102in that section of the hospital. In other scenarios, an RF reader (e.g.,RFID reader) may be utilized in lieu of an NFC reader, and an RF tag(e.g., RFID tag) may be utilized in lieu of an NFC tag.

As yet another example, FIG. 4 depicts scenario 400 illustratingunidirectional transmission of disabling messages, in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In one use case, thethreshold proximity may be set based on the distance 402 between twostructures 404 a and 404 b (e.g., distance 402 may be the thresholdproximity). As indicated by scenario 400, signals may be wirelesslytransmitted via unidirectional broadcast (e.g., indicators 406) fromstructure 404 a to structure 404 b. Structures 404 a may, for instance,include electronic device 104 configured to wirelessly transmit thedisabling message via the unidirectional signals, and structure 404 bmay be a structure at which the unidirectional signals end (e.g.,stopped, absorbed, etc.). Scenario 400 may, for instance, beillustrative of an environment that disables wireless transmissionand/or reception of wireless communication devices 102 upon entering theenvironment through structures 404 a and 404 b. For example, in order toenter such an environment, users may be required to walk through line408. However, when users cross line 408, their wireless communicationdevices 102 may receive the disabling message, resulting in transmitteror receiver portions of the wireless transceiver of those wirelesscommunication devices 102 being disabled. In this way, even if usersforget to turn off their wireless communication devices 102 or otherwisedisable wireless transmission/reception of their communication devicesbefore entering such an environment, the act of entering the environmentmay nonetheless result in the disabling of the wirelesstransmission/reception of those wireless communication devices 102.

In some embodiments, the disabling message may includepseudo-authentication information, and the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver of wireless communication device 102 may bedisabled based on the pseudo-authentication information. As an example,the pseudo-authentication information may include identification,authorization information, a one-time password (OTP), and/or otherpseudo-authentication information. In one embodiment, electronic device104 may transmit a request for the pseudo-authentication information toa third party (e.g., via third party provider server 108). In response,electronic device 104 may receive, from the third party, thepseudo-authentication information that is included in the disablingmessage, which is wireless transmitted to cause disabling of wirelesstransmission of wireless communication devices 102 that receive thedisabling message. In another embodiment, wireless communication device102 may be registered with a third party, and the transmitter portion ofthe wireless transceiver of wireless communication device 102 may bedisabled based on the registration of wireless communication device 102with the third party.

In one use case, electronic device 104 may be configured to interactwith a service provider Cell Provider X that provides cellular services(e.g., access to cellular voice network, access to cellular datanetwork, and/or other services). As part of its cellular services to itsregistered users, Cell Provider X may provide automatic disablement ofwireless transmission and/or reception at airlines, hospitals,courtrooms, or other environments in which wirelesstransmission/reception are to be disabled. Electronic device 104 may,for instance, periodically communicate with Cell Provider X to obtain anOTP from Cell Provider X that will remain valid for a predetermined timeperiod. During generation of the disabling message, electronic device104 may include the OTP in the disabling message. Electronic device maythen wirelessly transmit the disabling message with the OTP to causedisabling of wireless transmission and/or reception of wirelesscommunication devices 102 that receive the disabling message. Thus, whena given wireless communication device 102 receives and processes thedisabling message, the wireless communication device 102 may verify theOTP with Cell Provider X. If, for instance, Cell Provider X confirms thevalidity of the OTP, the wireless communication device 102 may thendisable its wireless transmission and/or reception (e.g., by disablingtransmitter and/or receiver portions of its wireless transceiver).

In some embodiments, wireless communication device 102 may initiate,based on the disabling message, presentation of a notification messagethat requests confirmation from a user of wireless communication device102 for the transmitter portion of the wireless transceiver to bedisabled. In one embodiment, wireless communication device 102 maypresent one or more indicators, such as an audio alert, a flashingindicator light, a blinking display, a haptic alert, etc., to inform theuser of that the disabling message has been received. Based on one ormore of the confirmation from the user or a failure of the user toindicate a denial of the disabling of the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver within a predetermined denial period, wirelesscommunication device 102 may disable the transmitter portion of itswireless transceiver. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the user ofwireless communication device 102 may be presented with notification 206upon receipt of the disabling message from electronic device 104.Notification 206 indicates to the user that a request to disabletransmitter and receiver portions of the wireless transceiver ofwireless communication device 102 (e.g., by placing wirelesscommunication device 102 in “Airplane Mode”) has been received, and thatsuch portions of the wireless transceiver will be disabled in 30 secondsunless the user declines using the “Decline Request” button. Asdepicted, the user may also immediately disable the transmitter andreceiver portions of the wireless transceiver by selecting the “EnterAirplane Mode Now” button. In this way, notification 206 may, forinstance, be provided to facilitate prevention of unauthorizeddisablement of device functions (e.g., by notifying the user ofdisablement requests, allowing users to decline such requests, etc.),offer users an option to decline disablement of device functions (e.g.,even those that may have been preauthorized), and/or provide otherbenefits.

It should be noted that while some embodiments describe wirelesstransmission and/or wireless receipt of the disabling/enabling messages,it is contemplated that the disabling/enabling messages may betransmitted by an electronic device (e.g., electronic device 104) via awireline and that the disabling/enabling message may be received by acommunication device (e.g., wireless communication device 102) via awireline. It should also be noted that while some embodiments describedisabling of wireless transmission, it is contemplated that aspects ofthe disclosure may be applied to disabling of wireless reception. Forexample, a disabling message that indicates disabling of wirelessreception may be generated at electronic device 104 and transmitted(e.g., via wired or wireless techniques) to cause disabling of areceiver portion of a wireless transceiver of a communication device(e.g., wireless communication device 102) that receives the disablingmessage. In one embodiment, wireless communication device 102 may, forinstance, be configured such that, based on wireless communicationdevice 102 receiving the disabling message and determining that thedisabling message indicates the disabling of wireless reception,wireless communication device 102 may disable a receiver portion of itswireless transceiver while leaving a transmitter portion of its wirelesstransceiver enabled. In another embodiment, the disabling message mayindicate the disabling of wireless reception without disabling ofwireless transmission. As such, based on wireless communication device102 receiving the disabling message and determine that the disablingmessage indicates the disabling of wireless reception, wirelesscommunication device 102 may disable the receiver portion of itswireless transceiver while leaving the transmitter portion of itswireless transceiver enabled.

It should also be noted that while some embodiments are with respect todisabling wireless transmission and/or reception, it is contemplatedthat aspects of the disclosure may be applied to disabling of otherdevice functions. For example, a disabling message that indicatesdisabling of audio, visual, haptic, and/or other senses-relatedfunctions may be generated at electronic device 104 and transmitted(e.g., via wired or wireless techniques) to cause disabling of thosefunctions of a communication device that receives the disabling message.In one embodiment, wireless communication device 102 may, for instance,be configured such that, based on communication device receiving thedisabling message and determining that the disabling message indicatesthe disabling of one or more senses-related functions, wirelesscommunication device 102 may disable the one or more senses-relatedfunctions and: (1) leave one or more other senses-related functionsenabled or (2) enable the one or more other senses-related functions. Inanother embodiment, the disabling message may indicate the disabling ofthe one or more senses-related functions and indicate: (1) non-disablingof the one or more other senses-related functions or (2) enabling of theone or more other senses-related functions. By way of example,electronic device 104 may generate a disabling message that indicatesdisabling of audio alerts (e.g., audio ringing to indicate a phone call,an audio beep to indicate a text message, a bell sound to indicate areminder, etc.) such that, when wirelessly transmitted by electronicdevice 104 and wirelessly received by wireless communication device 102,wireless communication device 102 places itself in silent mode, vibratemode (e.g., by enabling haptic alerts), and/or other alert modes.

It should also be noted that while some embodiments are with respect todisabling device functions, it is contemplated that aspects of thedisclosure may be applied to modification of device functions. Forexample, a disabling message may indicate modification of devicefunctions. In one use case, for instance, a disabling message mayindicate decreasing or increasing the volume of audio alerts, such thata communication device that receives the disabling message may decreaseor increase the volume of its audio alerts.

FIG. 5 illustrates a high-level functional block diagram of wirelesscommunication device 102, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. In the illustrative example, wireless communicationdevice 102 includes a variety of peripheral components 502, such as, forexample, display screen 504, speaker 506, microphone 508, camera 510,input devices 512, as well as a system-on-a-chip (SoC) 514, memory 516,a transceiver 518 (e.g., wireless transceiver), an antenna 520 (e.g., RFantenna), a communication module 522, a verification module 524, and/orother components. Wireless communication device 102 may also include abus infrastructure and/or other interconnection means to connect andcommunicate information between various components of wirelesscommunication device 102.

In some embodiments, SoC 514 may be part of a core processing orcomputing unit of wireless communication device 102, and is configuredto receive and process input data and instructions, provide outputand/or control other components of wireless communication device 102 inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. SoC 514 mayinclude a microprocessor, a memory controller, a memory and othercomponents. The microprocessor may further include a cache memory (e.g.,SRAM), which along with the memory of SoC 514 may be part of a memoryhierarchy to store instructions and data. The microprocessor may alsoinclude one or more logic modules such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or other logic array. Communication between the SoC 514'smicroprocessor and memory may be facilitated by the memory controller(or chipset), which may also facilitate communication with peripheralcomponents 502.

Memory 516 may be a dynamic storage device coupled to the businfrastructure and configured to store information, instructions, andprograms (e.g., such as applications integrated with software modules ofwireless communication device 102) to be executed by processors of SoC514 and/or other processors (or controllers) associated with wirelesscommunication device 102. Some of all of memory 516 may be implementedas Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMM5), and may be one or more of thefollowing types of memory: Static random access memory (SRAM), BurstSRAM or SynchBurst SRAM (BSRAM), Dynamic random access memory (DRAM),Fast Page Mode DRAM (FPM DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), Extended DataOutput RAM (EDO RAM), Extended Data Output DRAM (EDO DRAM), BurstExtended Data Output DRAM (BEDO DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), JEDECSRAM, PC100 SDRAM, Double Data Rate SDRAM(DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), SyncLink DRAM (SLDRAM), DirectRambus DRAM (DRDRAM), Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), or any other type ofmemory device. Wireless communication device 102 may also include readonly memory (ROM) and/or other static storage devices coupled to the businfrastructure and configured to store static information andinstructions for processors of SoC 514 and/or other processors (orcontrollers) associated with wireless communication device 102.

Transceiver 518 may be configured to transmit and receive signals. Forexample, transceiver 518 may be a wireless transceiver that includes atransmitter and a receiver for transmitting and receiving wirelesssignals (e.g., via antenna 520). The transmitter and the receiver may,for instance, be combined and share common circuitry or a singlehousing. Communication module 522 may utilize the transceiver totransmit and receive communication (e.g., messages). Moreover,communication module 522 may perform initially processing of messages todetermine where the messages are to be forwarded and/or how thosemessages should be further processed. For example, upon determining thata received message is a disabling message that indicates disabling ofwireless transmission/reception, communication module 522 may forwardthe disabling message to verification module 524 to verifypseudo-authentication information that may be included with thedisabling message, to receive a confirmation from a user to disablewireless transmission/reception of wireless communication device 102,etc. If, for instance, verification module 524 verifies that thepseudo-authentication information valid, receives confirmation from theuser, etc., communication module 522 may disable the transmitter and/orthe receiver of transceiver 518.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, electronic device 104 mayinclude components that are the same as or similar to components ofwireless communication device 102 as shown in FIG. 5, as well as one ormore other components, to facilitate disabling of wireless transmissionof wireless communication devices using messages. By way of example,electronic device 104 may include a wireless transceiver that includes atransmitter and a receiver for transmitting and receiving wirelesssignals, along with a communication module that utilizes the transmitterof the wireless transceiver to wireless transmit a disabling message tocause disabling of transmitter and/or receiver portions of wirelesscommunication devices 102 that receive the disabling message. As anotherexample, electronic device 104 may include a pseudo-authenticationmodule for requesting and obtaining pseudo-authentication informationfrom a third party (e.g., a cellular service provider for wirelesscommunication devices 102). Electronic device 104 may also include adisabler/enabler module for generating disabling/enabling messages andincluding the pseudo-authentication information in such messages.

FIG. 6 depicts a high-level flow diagram of a process for facilitatingdisabling of wireless transmission of wireless communication devicesusing messages, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. It should be noted that the process of FIG. 6 is intended tobe illustrative. In some embodiments, the process of FIG. 6 may be occurwith one or more additional blocks not described, and/or without one ormore of the blocks discussed. Additionally, the order with respect tothe process that is illustrated in FIG. 5 and described below is notintended to be limiting. With such understanding in mind, in block 602,electronic device 104 initiates generation of a disabling message thatindicates disabling of wireless transmission. During the generation ofthe disabling message, electronic device 104 requestspseudo-authentication information from a third party, as indicated inblock 604. As noted above, the third party may be a service providerassociated with one or more wireless communication devices 102. As anexample, the third party may provide cellular network access to users ofthose wireless communication devices 102 that are registered with thethird party. The pseudo-authentication information may includeidentification, authorization information, an OTP, and/or otherpseudo-authentication information.

In block 606, electronic device 104 receives the pseudo-authenticationinformation from the third party. Electronic device 104 may then includethe pseudo-authentication information in the disabling message, andwirelessly transmit the disabling message, as indicated in block 608.For example, electronic device 104 may wirelessly broadcast thedisabling message to cause disabling of transmitter portions of wirelesstransceivers of wireless communication devices 102 that receive thedisabling message.

In block 610, a given wireless communication device 102 is within aproximity threshold of electronic device 104 that enables the wirelesscommunication device 102 to receive the disabling message, as indicatedin blocks 610 and 612. Upon receipt, in block 614, the wirelesscommunication device 102 processes the disabling message and determinesthat the disabling message specifies the disabling of wirelesstransmission. The wireless communication device 102 may then, in block616, check the disabling message for the pseudo-authenticationinformation and determine whether the pseudo-authentication informationis valid. For example, the wireless communication device 102 may verifythe pseudo-authentication information with a corresponding third party(e.g., the corresponding third party may be the third party that thepseudo-authentication information was initially obtained from byelectronic device 104). Upon a confirmation by the third party that thepseudo-authentication information is valid, the process may proceed toblock 618. Otherwise, the disabling message may be ignored.

In block 618, the wireless communication device 102 presents anotification message to a user of the wireless communication device 102that requests confirmation from the user for the transmitter portion ofthe wireless transceiver to be disabled. In block 620, the wirelesscommunication device 102 determines whether the user confirmed thedisabling of the transmitter portion of the wireless transceiver wasconfirmed or whether the user failed to decline the disablement. If, forinstance, the user confirmed the disablement or failed to decline thedisablement, the process may proceed to block 622. Otherwise, if theuser declined the disablement, the disabling message and futuredisabling messages from electronic device may be ignored, for instance,for at least a predetermined wait period.

In block 622, the wireless communication device 102 may disable thetransmitter portion of the wireless transceiver of the wirelesscommunication device 102. As indicated above, in some embodiments, adisabling message may only cause transmitter portions of the wirelesstransceivers of wireless communication devices 102 to be disabled for apredetermined period of time. Nonetheless, the transmitter portions ofthe wireless transceivers may be disabled for longer than thepredetermined time period if, for instance, the wireless communicationdevices 102 continue to receive the disabling message before thepredetermined time period expires.

As such, in block 624, the wireless communication device 102 determineswhether such predetermined time period has expired. The wirelesscommunication device 102 may, for instance, determine that thepredetermined time period has not expired if electronic device 104continues to transmit the disabling message on a periodic basiscorresponding to the predetermined time period (as indicated in block626) and the wireless communication device 102 remains within theproximity threshold of electronic device 104. However, if the wirelesscommunication device 102 determines that the predetermined time periodhas expired, the process may proceed to block 628. In block 628, thewireless communication device 102 enables the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver of the wireless communication device 102, allowingthe wireless communication device 102 to transmit wireless signals.

By virtue of the disclosed configurations and processes, with respect todisabling of wireless transmission and/or reception of wirelesscommunication devices, a number of benefits are achieved. Among suchbenefits, some of which may include increased safety and decreased noisyinterruptions, for instance, in hospitals where wireless signalinterference may negatively affect medical devices, in classrooms wherephone calls or other communications may negatively impact a learningenvironment, and/or other scenarios.

Having thus described the basic concepts, it will be rather apparent tothose skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that theforegoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way ofexample only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, andmodifications will occur and are intended to those skilled in the art,though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, andmodifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and arewithin the spirit and scope of the exemplary aspects of this disclosure.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments ofthe present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature,structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or morereferences to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternativeembodiment” in various portions of this specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures or characteristics may be combined assuitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Inaddition, the term “logic” is representative of hardware, firmware,software (or any combination thereof) to perform one or more functions.For instance, examples of “hardware” include, but are not limited to, anintegrated circuit, a finite state machine, or even combinatorial logic.The integrated circuit may take the form of a processor such as amicroprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit, a digitalsignal processor, a micro-controller, or the like.

Furthermore, the recited order of method, processing elements, orsequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designationstherefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods toany order except as can be specified in the claims. Although the abovedisclosure discusses through various examples what is currentlyconsidered to be a variety of useful aspects of the disclosure, it is tobe understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that theappended claims are not limited to the disclosed aspects, but, on thecontrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalentarrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosedaspects.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description ofembodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimesgrouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereoffor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in theunderstanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. Thismethod of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed subject matter requires more features thanare expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a singleforegoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detaileddescription are hereby expressly incorporated into this detaileddescription.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a memory unit;and logic configured to: generate a disabling message that indicatesdisabling of wireless transmission, and wirelessly transmit thedisabling message to cause disabling of a transmitter portion of awireless transceiver of a wireless communication device that receivesthe disabling message.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein thedisabling message indicates the disabling of wireless transmissionwithout disabling of wireless reception.
 3. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the disabling message is configured to cause disablingof wireless transmission for a predetermined time period, and thedisabling message is wirelessly transmitted on a periodic basis thatcorresponds to the predetermined time period to cause the transmitterportion of the wireless transceiver to be disabled for longer than thepredetermined time period.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, whereinthe transmitter portion of the wireless transceiver is disabled based onthe wireless communication device being within a threshold proximity tothe electronic device.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein thelogic is further configured to: generate an enabling message thatindicates enabling of wireless transmission, and wirelessly transmit theenabling message to cause enabling of the wireless transceiver of thewireless communication device that receives the enabling message.
 6. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the disabling message includespseudo-authentication information, and the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver is disabled based on the pseudo-authenticationinformation.
 7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the logic isfurther configured to: transmit a request for the pseudo-authenticationinformation to a third party; and receive, from the third party, thepseudo-authentication information that is included in the disablingmessage.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the wirelesscommunication device is registered with the third party, and thetransmitter portion of the wireless transceiver is disabled based on theregistration of the wireless communication device with the third party.9. A wireless communication device, comprising: a memory unit; awireless transceiver configured to transmit and receive wirelesssignals; and logic configured to: wirelessly receive a disabling messagethat indicates disabling of wireless transmission, and disable atransmitter portion of the wireless transceiver based on the disablingmessage.
 10. The wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein,based on the disabling message, the transmitter portion of the wirelesstransceiver is disabled while a receiver portion of the wirelesstransceiver remains enabled.
 11. The wireless communication device ofclaim 10, wherein the disabling message indicates the disabling ofwireless transmission without disabling of wireless reception.
 12. Thewireless communication device of claim 9, wherein the disabling messageis configured to cause disabling of wireless transmission for apredetermined time period, and the transmitter portion of the wirelesstransceiver is disabled for longer than the predetermined time periodbased on the wireless communication device receiving the disablingmessage on a periodic basis that corresponds to the predetermined timeperiod.
 13. The wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein thetransmitter portion of the wireless transceiver is disabled based on thewireless communication device being within a threshold proximity to adevice that wirelessly transmitted the disabling message.
 14. Thewireless communication device of claim 9, wherein the logic is furtherconfigured to: receive an enabling message that indicates enabling ofwireless transmission, and enable the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver based on the enabling message.
 15. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 9, wherein the disabling message includespseudo-authentication information, and the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver is disabled based on the pseudo-authenticationinformation.
 16. The wireless communication device of claim 9, whereinthe wireless communication device is registered with a third party, andthe transmitter portion of the wireless transceiver is disabled based onthe registration of the wireless communication device with the thirdparty.
 17. The wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein thelogic is further configured to initiate, based on the disabling message,presentation of a notification message that requests confirmation from auser of the wireless communication device for the transmitter portion ofthe wireless transceiver to be disabled, and wherein the transmitterportion of the wireless transceiver is disabled based on one or more ofthe confirmation from the user or a failure of the user to indicate adenial of the disabling of the transmitter portion of the wirelesstransceiver within a predetermined denial period.
 18. A systemcomprising: an electronic device; and a wireless communication devicethat includes: a memory unit; a wireless transceiver configured totransmit and receive wireless signals; and logic configured to:wirelessly receive a disabling message that indicates disabling ofwireless transmission, and disable a transmitter portion of the wirelesstransceiver based on the disabling message.
 19. The system of claim 18,wherein, based on the disabling message, the transmitter portion of thewireless transceiver is disabled while a receiver portion of thewireless transceiver remains enabled.
 20. The system of claim 18,wherein the disabling message is configured to cause disabling ofwireless transmission for a predetermined time period, and thetransmitter portion of the wireless transceiver is disabled for longerthan the predetermined time period based on the wireless communicationdevice receiving the disabling message on a periodic basis thatcorresponds to the predetermined time period.